Showrunner Exits Criminal Minds Spin-off
Criminal Minds
Executive producer and showrunner Chris Mundy is leaving the Criminal Minds spin-off and will be replaced by Edward Allen Bernero, who runs the original series, a source tells TVGuide.com.
Bernero will continue to serve as executive producer and showrunner on the mothership while attempting to get Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior off the ground midseason.
Check out photos from Criminal Minds
Bernero was brought in because ABC Studios and CBS TV Studios, which produce both shows, felt the 13-episode off-shoot needed more direction from him, according to Variety. Bernero, whose credits include Third Watch, took over as showrunner of the original when creator Jeff Davis left after the first season, and steered the procedural into a reliable and solid hit for CBS.
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Mundy, who joined Minds during the first season, has never served as a showrunner before. He wrote the backdoor pilot for the spin-off earlier this year and left the original to run Suspect Behavior when it was picked up in May. It is unclear if he will return to Minds, but he remains based at ABC Studios.
Criminal Minds' Kirsten Vangsness joins spin-off as series regular
Suspect Behavior stars Forest Whitaker, Janeane Garofalo, Matt Ryan, Michael Kelly, Beau Garrett and Minds cast member Kirsten Vangsness, who, like Bernero, will pull double duty on both shows as technical analyst Penelope Garcia.
E-mails to CBS and ABC were not immediately returned.